Partscaster - Seymour Duncan JB 250K Push/Pull Pot

[Charvel1975]

Hello I have a partscaster that a friend of mine put together for me some years ago and below were the parts, body, neck, etc.

- Squier Strat body; Don't know what kind of wood the body is made of though? It's extremely light.


- Neck I bought off Ebay from TNT Custom Guitars: Jackson Style Maple Neck & fretboard, 22 Fret, Floyd Rose Nut.


- 6 inline Black Grover tuning machines.


- The bridge I bought off Ebay is a Made In Mexico Fender tremolo but I had the tremolo setup on the guitar so it wouldn't move at all cause I really don't use trems so he put a total of 4 trem springs so it wouldn't move.


- The mirrored pickguard I got off Ebay and as well.


- 1 bridge humbucer: Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Trembucker is wired it to an Alpha push/pull volume pot, 500K I'm pretty sure, no tone pot.


I read that the JB is meant to be used with a 250K potentiometer and I don't play the Partscaster a lot because it's really bright and ice picky! Also, the pot that's in it right now I think is bad as the sound cuts in and out when rolling the volume know up or down.

What do you think? Should I just get a high quality CTS 250K short shaft push/pull pot and have it installed or what?

[eclecticsynergy]

JB sounds best with a 250K volume in Fender scale guitars IMO.
Myself, I'd want a tone pot too. But that's just me.

Sometimes in a fat-sounding or darkly voiced Les Paul the JB does well with a 500K.
Strat types don't really have that kind of fullness in their lows though.

[Mincer]

Many people prefer the JB with a 250k pot, just for that reason. It is easy and cheap enough to see if it cuts out enough brightness for you. I'd say go ahead and try it- it is just the right thing for many people.

[Charvel1975]

JB sounds best with a 250K volume in Fender scale guitars IMO.
Myself, I'd want a tone pot too. But that's just me.

Sometimes in a fat-sounding or darkly voiced Les Paul the JB does well with a 500K.
Strat types don't really have that kind of fullness in their lows though.

I was wondering if I should have a tone pot installed too but then it would lose that kinda cool look of a single humbucker guitar with a single volume pot ya know

That's another thing I don't want to lose is the fullness in the lows. Wlold going to a short shaft CTS push pull pot make the guitar lose the fullness the lows going with a 250K pot? Should I also look at getting all new wiring as well? What about capacitors, values, oil paper capacitors, treble bleed, etc?

[Mincer]

If a tone pot is going to make it more usable for you (and you are planning to actually use the tone pot), then absolutely it is worth it. Sound is more important than looks to me, though. Throw a 250k pot in for the volume and tone, and it won't sound so bright. You can also re-EQ the amp, too.

[Supernautilus]

My JB must be particularly dark because I couldn't imagine using 250K pots with it. I've had it in 2 guitars, an SG and LP style, and it's sounded pretty dark both times. It must have a whole different vibe in a Fender style guitar.

[Mincer]

JBs generally have a healthy high end to me. I've never heard them as dark, even in dark guitars, but maybe your guitar is really dark.

[Supernautilus]

JBs generally have a healthy high end to me. I've never heard them as dark, even in dark guitars, but maybe your guitar is really dark.

The only time it sounds bright is when it’s pushing high gain. The higher the gain, the brighter it gets. Cleans are fairly dark though. I just assumed it’s because the pup is so hot.

[GuitarDoc]

If you want the look of just a single knob, you could get a concentric shaft pot to do both vol and tone.

[Mincer]

The only time it sounds bright is when it’s pushing high gain. The higher the gain, the brighter it gets. Cleans are fairly dark though. I just assumed it’s because the pup is so hot.

Does your amp have a separate EQ for the gain channel?

[Supernautilus]

Does your amp have a separate EQ for the gain channel?

I only use single channel amps. My high gain tones come from pedals. So I can tailor the EQ pretty easily.

[Mincer]

I only use single channel amps. My high gain tones come from pedals. So I can tailor the EQ pretty easily.

Oh cool- then you could always use an EQ pedal to cut out the highs, or if you have a good EQ on your gain pedal, you can cut them there.

[Supernautilus]

Oh cool- then you could always use an EQ pedal to cut out the highs, or if you have a good EQ on your gain pedal, you can cut them there.

Yep. It's not a problem. I wasn't complaining about it or anything. I was just noting that it seems to be a characteristic of my JB that cleans are somewhat dark while high gain tones get much brighter.

[Mincer]

Yep. It's not a problem. I wasn't complaining about it or anything. I was just noting that it seems to be a characteristic of my JB that cleans are somewhat dark while high gain tones get much brighter.

Oh, gotcha. I never liked the cleans of a JB, it seems overly EQ'd. I wouldn't say dark as much as upper middy- like AM radio to me.

[GuitarDoc]

upper middy- like AM radio to me.

Yeah, that's the description. I never could think of a good way to describe the tone of the JB other than too much upper mids that exhausts my ears. But AM radio hits the nail on the head.